Acun Ilicali is once again searching for a new head coach after opting to sack Ruben Selles on Thursday, less than two weeks after the Championship season came to an end. The campaign may have been an unmitigated disaster for City, but the Tigers did at least secure Championship survival with that battling point at Portsmouth.
City must now focus on appointing a new manager capable of turning a Tigers side that survived on goal difference into one capable of having a better season next term, and central to that will be the chief decision maker Acun Ilicali.
After a nightmare year following the end of last season, Ilicali faces some tough decisions and even tougher questions as he looks to move the club forward.
Here’s a look at the big tasks facing the Turkish businessman….
Face up to the fans
Ilicali has kept a fairly low profile in recent months, which has probably been the right thing to do given the situation. Sometimes, saying nothing is the right course of action. In the final couple of weeks of the season, Ilicali was right to stay quiet and made it clear in various conversations with Hull Live that he didn’t want to speak publicly until the season was over. He wanted the focus to be on Ruben Selles and the players, making sure they were safe. Ultimately, at that stage, there was nothing he could say.
Given the direction of travel in the days since the season ended, it was no surprise Ilicali again kept his counsel until Ruben Selles’ future was clarified. Now Selles has gone, Ilicali must address a host of topics.
Those include addressing errors over the past 12 months, explaining the club’s financial situation, and talking about what he plans for the summer and beyond. Without divulging sensitive information, giving an indication of what fans can expect from the transfer market before the season starts..
Last summer was a mess and contributed to the season that followed. That cannot be allowed to happen again, and a clear plan of attack is required.
Hosting a Q&A will go some way to answering some questions, but that transparency Ilicali has spoken about since taking over must come to the fore now.
If you can step away from all the vitriolic, heinous abuse flying around on social media, there are some very valid points being made by supporters who now have genuine concerns about the direction of their football club, and the owner shouldn’t ignore that.
Make it quick
Twelve months ago, it took an age for Tim Walter’s appointment to be confirmed and then another month before he started work. From the get-go, City were so far behind and they never recovered. Those three wins at the end of September and beginning of October aside, the Tigers never looked like a team capable of pushing further up the league.
They were hamstrung by the way the summer was dealt with. The club was caught sleepwalking into the season, and that continued into a relegation battle.
Making mistakes is part and parcel of life. Fans can accept that errors are made; they happen at all clubs, but what they can’t accept is the same errors being made time and time again. Ultimately, when the same errors are made, they have a direct impact on results and often burden the club with more debt.
Hull City is a club with potential. The Premier League is the biggest and most lucrative league in the world and has the power to make an owner very wealthy if it can get back there. It deserves the full and undivided attention from those leading it, and only with that full focus can it have any hope of success.
Make it sensible
City do not need an untested manager at Championship level at this stage. Now is not the time to take an unnecessary risk like they did with Walter. To an extent, you can admire the risk in appointing Walter. Ilicali looked at what Daniel Farke, David Wagner and to a lesser extent, Danny Rohl had achieved in the Championship and thought he could achieve similar.
It failed badly, and that should serve as a warning not to try anything like that again. City need somebody who knows the Championship, who knows how to organise a team, get it fit, strong, and disciplined, and play to its strengths. A manager with a profile like Alex Neil is a must. We’ve seen the impact John Eustace had at Derby County in a short space of time with a limited group of players, and that’s what the Tigers need now.
Neil was interviewed at Christmas and was exceptional in delivering his presentation. He took a fairly average group of Millwall players to the cusp of the top six, and has promotions on his CV from Norwich City and Sunderland, arguably bigger clubs than City with greater expectations.
Now is not the time to try to be clever or experiment. Now is the time to play it safe and focus on bringing in a manager who can provide substance rather than perceived style and give this club a chance of competing next season. With some smart decision-making, it can be a positive campaign, but if things are haphazard again, that will not happen.
Last summer and this season should provide the owner with a huge red flag. Take your eye off the ball and you will be punished. City were given a get out of jail free card because of how bad the three relegated teams were. They will not be afforded that luxury again.
Don’t mess up the summer
One thing you cannot criticise the owner for is a lack of ambition. He’s never not backed a manager. Albeit ridiculously late in the summer, Walter was armed with £20m worth of talent 12 months ago. Charlie Hughes, Abu Kamara, Liam Millar and Mohamed Belloumi all cost significant money, and Ruben Selles was backed from a weaker position in January. The warning was there about the goals lost in the team during the summer exodus, and they were not replaced.
The two biggest criticisms of last summer’s recruitment was that it was too late, and they didn’t sign a quality striker. Bringing in a forward or two of genuine quality this summer is essential. Finishing as the lowest scorers in the league should be an embarrassment, and that should be used as the fuel to ensure they get it right this time.
Spending the best part of £5m on Mason Burstow and Kyle Joseph for a goals return of two in a combined 47 league games highlights a major failing, not only in recruitment but also in the overall performance of the manager and players. João Pedro finishing as top scorer on six goals tells a sorry story.
Pace and power are paramount. Hanging your hat on Belloumi, Millar, and Eliot Matazo is not fair. They will have been out a long time, and we don’t know when they will be fit and ready to be involved. And that’s assuming they don’t get struck down by the type of muscular injuries we often see players hit by after lengthy lay-offs.
Speak to any manager and player worth his or her salt will tell you that pre-season dictates the tone of the season. Have a poor pre-season and the campaign will follow suit. Have a positive summer campaign and you’ll have a fair chance of doing well.
That’s not a new theory, it’s tried and tested. Last summer was chaotic. Get it right this time round and they’ll have a chance, but things have to move quickly if that’s to be the case.
Ilicali is the main man at City. He makes the decisions, and he pays the bills. There remains an element of goodwill from supporters still believing he can lead the Tigers back to the Premier League. Some are now convinced he’s not the right man and have lost faith, but what he does in the next few weeks will go a long way to determining the club’s fate over the next few months. It’s that important.
Don’t miss the latest 1904 Club podcast looking at what comes next for the Tigers